6 November 2003

Abstract:
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will extend the discoveries of
the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Space Infrared Telescope
Facility (SIRTF) by deploying a large cooled infrared telescope
at the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L2. With a 6 m aperture and three
instruments covering the wavelength range from 0.6 to 28 micron, it
will provide sensitivities orders of magnitude better than any other
facilities. It is intended to observe the light from the first
galaxies and the first supernovae, the assembly of galaxies, and
the formation and evolution of stars and planetary systems. In this
talk I will review the scientific objectives, the hardware concepts
and technology, and the predicted system performance. I will close
with a summary of possible future IR space missions, ranging from
the far IR to planet-finding coronagraphs and interferometers.